Ohio voters reject law limiting collective bargaining

Voters in Ohio rejected the Republican-backed law Tuesday that would have limited union's collective bargaining rights.

Catherine LyonsNovember 8, 2011 22:22

Ohio voters rejected the state's new collective bargaining law at the polls on Tuesday, handing a win to the unions and public workers including firefighters and teachers, reported the Boston Herald.

Preliminary results from Ohio's secretary of state were 63 to 37 in favor of repealing the law, according to the New York Times. A similar law was passed in Wisconsin earlier this year.

The law, which passed in March, limited the collective bargaining abilities of more than 350,000 unionized public workers across the state, reported the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. Tuesday's rejection of the law marks a defeat for Republican Governor John Kasich, who strongly supported the party-backed bill.

The measure on this election's ballot was a referedum on Senate Bill 5, which passed the state's legislature in March, according to CNN. The law prohibited strikes and promotions based only on seniority, and required employees to contribute 10 percent to their pensions and 15 percent to their healthcare costs.

Politico reported that SEIU District 1199 President Becky Williams said in Columbus that the election result was a "victory for the nation" and allegedly called Gov. Kasich a "radical thug."

Photographer: Mark Lyons
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Sheri Dever, with the Service Employees International Union, protests on the street while House Speaker John Boehner visits West Chester, Ohio on Sept. 2, 2011. Ohio voters rejected the law passed earlier this year that limited collective bargaining rights for more than 350,000 unionized public workers.